Rivalry Makes People More Eco-Conscious

If you want to encourage people to do the right thing for
the environment, tell them their rivals are going green. This is according to a
new marketing study from the University of British Columbia‚Äôs Sauder School of
Business. The study, ‚ÄúThe Motivating Role of Dissociative Outgroups in
Encouraging Positive Consumer Behaviors,‚ÄĚ reports that
creating a sense of competition between rival groups could inspire people to go
green.

‚ÄúPast research suggests that people tend to follow the herd,
copying individuals they identify with--neighbors, colleagues, friends,‚ÄĚ says
study co-author Katherine White. ‚ÄúBut when it comes to eco-conscious behavior,
we found that the only way to get people to up their game was to tell them a
rival group was doing better.‚ÄĚ

White says that informing the business students about the
behavior of computer science students created a sense of competition that
inspired them to act. She suggests that this behavior can be applied in a wider
context, to motivate an entire city to move towards sustainability.